BENGALURU: Of late, with increasing disposable incomes and status consciousness in residents of major cities, the trend has been to get a dog home. Spending a fistful of dollars is passé, the young turks now spend a bagful of cash on exotic breeds like Huskies, Malamutes and the Saint Bernards. Most are either ignorant of what entails to get such dogs or realise later that they are under equipped to take care of such exotics in Indian conditions.
Average temperature in Siberia, where the Husky thrives, is – 5 degrees Celsius. Huskies have evolved as working dogs being used to pull sleds and hunt game over hundreds of years. These dogs, therefore, are clearly unsuitable for the heat in cities like Delhi, which touched 48 degree Celsius this year.
What happens when one figures out that this is not what they signed up for? The dogs get dumped on the street, a life for which they are not equipped. If they are not rescued, they will die soon of hunger, thirst or being attacked by other dogs.
Enter the animal activists. The ones who spend time, money and energy speaking up, fighting and caring for the voiceless. You would find them in every locality, feeding the street dogs, rushing to the aid of or fostering a beleaguered cat or taking out a candlelight march for yet another animal victim of senseless cruelty.
Most of them have regular jobs, a family and a life. But they go out of their way to take up causes which no one else would. Mandy is one such animal welfare worker who rushed to the aid of an abandoned Great Dane. What she saw made her head spin. The dog had at least a million tics all over his body.
Dangerously low hemoglobin levels, underdeveloped joints, cuts all over his body and tics falling off and crawling all over, the hospital workers at CARE at Jakkur were close to throwing up seeing his condition.
An immediate blood donor was arranged for and under intensive care, Parthasarathy, “In true Tamil Brahmin style”, Mandy chuckles, is on his way to a recovery, although there is still a long way to go. “It’s madness”, says Chinthana, another animal welfare worker associated with CUPA; “Most people give up their Bernards saying I did not know they would grow so big. It is a Bernard, what did you expect?”. I cannot find fault with that argument. The shelters are overflowing with abandoned Saint Bernards, Labradors and German Shepherds. Sanjana, another passionate animal welfare worker adds, “These are working class dogs and need regular exercise. You need not run a marathon with them every day, but they need a walk at least twice a day for an hour each. You cannot tie any dog for twenty four hours a day and then not expect it to become aggressive. Then if the dog bites you, suddenly it’s the dog’s problem, and it needs to go? What logic is that?” I completely agree.
We cannot deny that abandoned pets are a problem anymore. “The solution is awareness and quick action.”, says Chinthana. To-be pet parents need to be counseled regarding breed, specific needs and expectations. Buying breed-dogs need to be urgently discouraged and adoptions from kennels need to be pushed for those looking for dogs. Behavioral problems need to be identified by taking the help of trained counselors and addressed.
“The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated,” Gandhi had said. The friendly neighbourhood animal activist could not agree more.